OUR LOVE OF VINTAGE BECAME A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER BUSINESS
megan Pugh, 33, and maggie Pugh, 57, live in shrewsbury, shropshire, and run maggie mae’s Vintage. maggie says: Our shop is my happy place. Walking in each morning to see the beautiful vintage fashion is magical. Best of all, right there beside me is my best friend, business partner and daughter.
I’ve always loved vintage designs. I remember being four and mum taking me to jumble sales. Rummaging through the piles and spotting a flash of amazing old fabric was a thrill.
Vintage clothes seemed more elegant and better made. Slip on something from another era, and you stand so much straighter.
I was 21 when Megan was born and by 10, I could see she was fascinated by vintage fashion too. She’d sit and play with paper dolls for hours, dressing them up in clothes from the past. It was lovely to have that shared passion.
I was still working in the NHS in 2011 when I took a collection of clothes to my first vintage fair and sold out within an hour. That’s when I thought about starting my own vintage fashion business. Megan told me to go for it.
So in 2013 I opened my own little shop, and despite having her own job in retail
Megan helped whenever she could. It was wonderful to spend time together, and bounce ideas off someone who loved vintage fashion as much as I did.
I was thrilled when she joined me full time in 2017. As well as working in the shop together and sourcing amazing fashions we’d visit vintage fairs and events. At Twinwood, Megan would dress in 40s clothes, her favourite era, and I’d be there in 30s fashion. It was such fun, the ultimate mother-daughter day out.
In 2019, we outgrew our shop and relocated somewhere bigger. We transformed it into an homage to a 1930s department store. I’m so proud of what we have achieved together, it really is like stepping back in time.
Every item is handpicked by us. There’s beautiful hats, shoes and handbags on the traditional haberdashery counter. Doris Day plays in the background and you pay at an Art Deco-style till.
But the special atmosphere is more than fashion and music. It’s created by two women who share a passion as well as DNA.
Running a business isn’t easy. you have to have honesty and great communication. Who better to do it all with than your daughter? I hope we have many more years, and fabulous fashions, to come.
Visit maggiemaes vintage.co.uk